Efficient data entry system for electronic forms

ABSTRACT

A method for efficient data entry in a field of an electronic form displayed on a mobile device screen is disclosed. The method comprises a user selecting a camera function using a camera selector and taking a picture of information. Selectable text is extracted from the picture and displayed in a data entry screen where the form is displayed. The user selects a one or more elements from the selectable text; and the selected elements are inserted into the field.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.17/470,767, filed Sep. 9, 2021, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/205,148, filed Nov. 29, 2018, now patent Ser.No. 11/144,715, which are incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties.

BACKGROUND

Electronic forms are very useful tools to enter data directly into adatabase. They are used pervasively in all industries, for examplerepair industry, transport etc. . . . . Smart phones, tablets offercapabilities of filling online forms anywhere using an on-screensoftware-based keyboard that pops up when a field in the form istouched. The user then enters the text letter by letter (or number)which is time consuming and error prone. It would be desirable to speedup the data entry for forms.

SUMMARY

In accordance with an embodiment, a method for efficient data entry in afield of an electronic form displayed on a mobile device screen. Themethod comprises a user selecting a camera function using a cameraselector and taking a picture of information; selectable text isextracted from the picture and displayed in a data entry screen coupledto said form. The user selects a one or more elements from saidselectable text; and the selected elements are inserted into the field.

The foregoing and additional aspects and embodiments of the presentdisclosure will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art inview of the detailed description of various embodiments and/or aspects,which is made with reference to the drawings, a brief description ofwhich is provided next.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

To easily identify the discussion of any particular element or act, themost significant digit or digits in a reference number refer to thefigure number in which that element is first introduced.

FIG. 1 illustrates a mobile device screen with a form

FIG. 2 illustrates information to be included in a form.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a text selection screen

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a selection of one or more elements

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of zooming on the selectable text

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a multi-line selection

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a flow chart representing oneembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 depicts a form 112 displayed on a mobile device screen 102. Whenthe user taps on a field, a standard soft data entry screen 104 appears,initially with a soft keyboard and Auto fill 110 buttons. The Auto fill110 function displays common words from the dictionary that match theletters entered. The user can select the right word when displayed toavoid typing the rest of the word. However, when filling forms, a lot ofdata entry involves text and numbers that are not part of the dictionary(e.g. client name, serial number, manufacturer name etc. . . . ). In oneembodiment, the user can use the camera selector 108 to enable themobile device camera mode in order to take a picture of some Information202 to enter.

FIG. 2 shows an example of Information 202 being captured by the camerato be included in the form. The Information 202 may contain one or moreelements of text (herein including numbers) and other non-textualgraphics.

Upon clicking the text shutter button 204 optical character recognition(OCR) is performed on the Information 202 in the picture. Any OCRtechniques known in the art can be used to analyse the picture. Theresults of the OCR are then cropped and rotationally corrected to givethe clearest view resulting in selectable text on a data entry screen304 represented in the Information 202. Live character tracking mayoptionally be enabled using button 206 to give a preview of what isbeing recognized by the OCR.

Optionally another soft button (not shown) can be added to allow theuser wants to take a normal picture without the OCR to include in afield of the form that allows that format.

FIG. 3 shows how the selectable text from the OCR is displayed in thedata entry screen 304 of the mobile device screen 102. The user canswitch back to the camera or the keyboard display using the camera andkeyboard selector 302. The user can move between fields while the dataentry screen 304 is displayed.

FIG. 4 shows an example of selected one or more elements 402, where theuser selected a field 106 and then selected one or more elements 402which were automatically entered in the field 106. The user can selectedmodify or remove some or all of the text/numbers in the field 106 justas it was entered using the keyboard.

FIG. 5 depicts an example how the user can zoom in the selectable text304 to help with selecting the required text. The zooming can beachieved using any types of gestures known in the art.

FIG. 6 shows another example where the user performs a multi-lineselection 602. In this case, the system orders the text from left toright, top to bottom and displays as normal text in the field 106. Inanother embodiment, the selected components may not be collocated, butthey can be selected together to fill one field at once.

FIG. 7 summarizes the step of one embodiment of the invention. In block702, routine 700 selects a camera function using a camera selector. Inblock 704, routine 700 takes a picture of information. In block 706,routine 700 extracts text from the picture and displaying the text in atext selection screen coupled to the form. In block 708, routine 700selects one or more elements from the text. In block 710, routine 700inserts the one or more element from the text into the field.

Various embodiments of systems, devices, and methods have been describedherein. These embodiments are given only by way of example and are notintended to limit the scope of the invention. It should be appreciated,moreover, that the various features of the embodiments that have beendescribed may be combined in various ways to produce numerous additionalembodiments. Moreover, while various materials, dimensions, shapes,configurations and locations, etc. have been described for use withdisclosed embodiments, others besides those disclosed may be utilizedwithout exceeding the scope of the invention.

Persons of ordinary skill in the relevant arts will recognize that theinvention may comprise fewer features than illustrated in any individualembodiment described above. The embodiments described herein are notmeant to be an exhaustive presentation of the ways in which the variousfeatures of the invention may be combined. Accordingly, the embodimentsare not mutually exclusive combinations of features; rather, theinvention may comprise a combination of different individual featuresselected from different individual embodiments, as understood by personsof ordinary skill in the art.

Any incorporation by reference of documents above is limited such thatno subject matter is incorporated that is contrary to the explicitdisclosure herein. Any incorporation by reference of documents above isfurther limited such that no claims included in the documents areincorporated by reference herein. Any incorporation by reference ofdocuments above is yet further limited such that any definitionsprovided in the documents are not incorporated by reference hereinunless expressly included herein.

For purposes of interpreting the claims for the present invention, it isexpressly intended that the provisions of Section 112, sixth paragraphof 35 U.S.C. are not to be invoked unless the specific terms “means for”or “step for” are recited in a claim.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for efficient data entry in a field of aform displayed on a screen of a mobile device comprising: displaying, onsaid screen, at least two sections, wherein a first section displayssaid form and a second section displays a data entry screen; receiving apicture of information on said mobile device; causing selectable text tobe extracted from said picture and displaying said selectable text insaid data entry screen; receiving a selection of an element from saidselectable text and automatically inserting and displaying into saidfield.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein said extracting is performedusing optical character recognition.
 3. The method of claim 1 whereinsaid selectable text is highlighted on said data entry screen.
 4. Themethod of claim 2 wherein said selectable text is cropped.
 5. The methodof claim 2 wherein said selectable text is rotationally corrected.
 6. Acomputing apparatus for efficient data entry in a field of a formdisplayed on a mobile device screen, comprising: a processor; and amemory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor,configure the apparatus to: display at least two sections on said mobiledevice screen, wherein a first section displays a form and a secondsection displays a data entry screen; receive a picture of information;extract selectable text from said picture and display said selectabletext in said data entry screen; insert and display one or more elementselected from said selectable text into said field on said form.
 7. Thecomputing apparatus of claim 6 wherein the selectable text is extractedusing optical character recognition.
 8. The computing apparatus of claim6 wherein said selectable text is highlighted on said data entry screen.9. The computing apparatus of claim 7 wherein said selectable text iscropped.
 10. The computing apparatus of claim 7 wherein said selectabletext is rotationally corrected.
 11. A system for efficient data entry ina field of a form displayed on a screen of a mobile device, comprising:a display of at least two sections on said screen, wherein a firstsection displays a form and a second section displays a data entryscreen; extraction of selectable text from a picture received by saidmobile device and display said selectable text in said data entryscreen; insertion and display of one or more element selected from saidselectable text into said field of said form.
 12. The system of claim 11wherein the extraction of selectable text is performed using opticalcharacter recognition.
 13. The system of claim 11 wherein saidselectable text is highlighted on said data entry screen.
 14. The systemof claim 12 wherein said selectable text is cropped.
 15. The system ofclaim 12 wherein said selectable text is rotationally corrected.